There is a culture of violence in Oakland, and too many of the agents of that violence wear the uniforms of the Oakland Police Dept., the Alameda County Sheriff’s Dept., and by the police departments of the Oakland Unified School District, the Oakland Housing Authority, and BART. It would be irresponsible to speculate on what motivates armed and armored officers to beat with their fists people in handcuffs, to drag them by the hair, kick them, and shock them with tasers. Einstein For Oakland can, however, state without doubt that such brutality is illegal assault on persons not yet convicted of any crime, in hundreds of cases, and illegal even after they have been convicted. We know that brutality by police officers and prison guards drives victims further from respecting systems of law enforcement. And we know that violence breeds violence. The history of trampling on the right of Oakland residents to be respected as innocents until their guilt is proved must end. Those incarcerated consequent to conviction must be held in safety from injury and from exposure to contagious diseases while in custody. The period of near-absolute immunity for officers of the law must pass on to one where their violent impulses are restrained, first, by fear of prosecution and, second, through respect shared mutually by the police and those they are sworn to protect.
These statements are not radical, and we doubt that any of the other candidates for Mayor of Oakland would contradict them. But if our candidate is elected, then an independent investigation will begin immediately into all reported incidents of brutality and other abuses in the last four years by all the law enforcement departments having jurisdiction in Oakland and by the staff of Santa Rita County Jail. At its commencement, the investigation will focus on District Attorney Nancy O’Malley for the failure of her office to pursue convictions of reckless endangerment, assault, and murder against officers accused of these crimes by their victims and the families of those victims. When there is evidence of injury or death caused by police officers, then the District Attorney must pursue convictions in order to establish public faith in Oakland’s system of justice – a faith that does not currently exist. This investigation will demand the unredacted documents related to these accusations received and generated by the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office, by Alameda County Sheriff Gregory Ahern, Asst. Sheriff Brett Keteles, Commander Carla Kennedy, Captain Dave Brady, former Oakland Police Chief Howard Jordan, BART Police Chief Kenton Rainey, Oakland Unified School Dist. Police Chief James Williams, and Oakland Housing Authority Police Chief Carel Duplessis. Recommendations for corrective disciplinary action will be made based on review of the threads of these documents in their entirety. Failure to cooperate will be publicized. The Mayor will direct the Oakland City Attorney to pursue civil redress on behalf of victims. All subsequent incidents of negligence to properly respond to emergency situations by these departments will be seen as retribution for the independent investigation.
Our candidate anticipates strong resistance to this investigation, but the Einstein administration will use all of its power to change the culture of violent intimidation amongst officers of the law. Mayor Einstein will not cease in his efforts to raise awareness that willful and negligent injuries caused by police officers along with immunities embodied in the CA Police Officers Bill of Rights are intolerable threats to public safety.
These statements are not radical, and we doubt that any of the other candidates for Mayor of Oakland would contradict them. But if our candidate is elected, then an independent investigation will begin immediately into all reported incidents of brutality and other abuses in the last four years by all the law enforcement departments having jurisdiction in Oakland and by the staff of Santa Rita County Jail. At its commencement, the investigation will focus on District Attorney Nancy O’Malley for the failure of her office to pursue convictions of reckless endangerment, assault, and murder against officers accused of these crimes by their victims and the families of those victims. When there is evidence of injury or death caused by police officers, then the District Attorney must pursue convictions in order to establish public faith in Oakland’s system of justice – a faith that does not currently exist. This investigation will demand the unredacted documents related to these accusations received and generated by the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office, by Alameda County Sheriff Gregory Ahern, Asst. Sheriff Brett Keteles, Commander Carla Kennedy, Captain Dave Brady, former Oakland Police Chief Howard Jordan, BART Police Chief Kenton Rainey, Oakland Unified School Dist. Police Chief James Williams, and Oakland Housing Authority Police Chief Carel Duplessis. Recommendations for corrective disciplinary action will be made based on review of the threads of these documents in their entirety. Failure to cooperate will be publicized. The Mayor will direct the Oakland City Attorney to pursue civil redress on behalf of victims. All subsequent incidents of negligence to properly respond to emergency situations by these departments will be seen as retribution for the independent investigation.
Our candidate anticipates strong resistance to this investigation, but the Einstein administration will use all of its power to change the culture of violent intimidation amongst officers of the law. Mayor Einstein will not cease in his efforts to raise awareness that willful and negligent injuries caused by police officers along with immunities embodied in the CA Police Officers Bill of Rights are intolerable threats to public safety.
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